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White Male
Early 20s
Height: 5'10" - 6' (178 -183 cm)
Weight: 140 - 150 lbs (64 - 68 kg)
Hair: short and dark
Build: slim
Wearing glasses, jeans, running shoes and a grey-hooded top underneath a light weight teal coloured jacket
A short distance from the scene the suspect abandoned a lightweight jacket and white cotton gloves which was located by police dog track. The light-weight jacket is of particular interest. It is a High Sierra make, made in Korea, and is a size large. Inside the left breast area of the jacket was a large diaper pin"

“Renée had received a number of hang-up phone calls (at home) during the two weeks prior to her murder,” Toffoli said. “She had a different behaviour. She used to park her car at work on the opposite side of the parking lot, but it was a dark area of the parking lot. In the week prior to the murder, she changed the location of her parking, and she parked directly in front of the store, which she had never done before.

“We’re assuming she did this because she was scared of someone, or something happening to her. We’ve never found out what she was scared of. She never told her family, her friends, or her co-workers.”

The crime, whether it was supposed to be a robbery or a murder, was premeditated, Toffoli said. “He entered the store with gloves, a knife, and very light clothing for the cold temperature that was outside,” the sergeant explained."

The amazing and horrifying thing, is that although Rennee was stabbed 30 times, she managed to crawl behind the counter whilst the killer, assuming she was dead, washed up in the store bathroom. When he returned and saw that she was still alive, he attacked her again until she died!
The monster grabbed $200 from the cash register, but i wonder if the money was a "bonus" or red herring, for him, or if the motive was straight up robbery?
If it was a robbery, why was it such a violent overkill?
Since Rennee received nuisance phone calls at home prior to the murder, yet was not scheduled to be at work on that day, could it be that the killer was watching her home and knew she was at the store?
Did he confuse her for a different female employee?

"Renee Sweeney would be 40 today if she were still alive. There's no way of knowing for sure, but it would be nice to think she would be happily married with a couple of children and in the midst of a successful music career.

She would have been there for her younger sister Kim, herself the mother of two children. And she would have been there for her mother, Carol, as she battles MS, and for her stepfather, Bill Strachan, before he died in 2013.

Renee was stabbed to death on Jan. 27, 1998, at the now-defunct Adults Only Video on Paris Street. She wasn't even supposed to be at work that day; normally she would have been off, but had switched shifts so she could take part in a Sudbury Symphony Orchestra performance, Kim Sweeney told The Star last year.

Renee was a talented music student at Laurentian University, working at the video store to help pay for her education.

Her killer, who has never been brought to justice, would also likely be in his 40s, if he's still alive"

They have his gloves and his windbreaker. They have a partial fingerprint and shoe print. They have his DNA.

It is that DNA, that one investigator believes may end up solving the murder.

Sergeant David Toffoli has a stack of banker's boxes of notes he took during the several years he worked on the case. They are a silent reminder in the corner of his small office. He said they're a fraction of the case file which filled sixty boxes.

The murder happened January 27, 1998. Police notes showed the temperature was -17 C and there was light snow. Renee was working the Adult Only Video store at 1500 Paris Street.

Her high school friend, Catherine Valiaho, said Renee didn't fit the stereotype of an adult video store clerk. She wasn't involved in the sex trade.

There is a huge amount of physical evidence: a windbreaker-type jacket made in Korea and sold only in California, a diaper pin in the pocket, and a pair of white work gloves. Police have a partial fingerprint and footprint.

Police hired an OPP profiler who said the suspect was male, in his late teens or early twenties, lived in Sudbury, and worked in the service industry.

As much as Toffoli put his faith in the DNA databank, he said the lack of a match indicated the man who committed this crime just hasn't committed any other major crimes in Canada that would compel him to give DNA to the registry.

A jacket linked to her murder scene remains the best piece of evidence in solving Renee Sweeney’s murder, Greater Sudbury Police investigators believe

Police were able to find a bloodstained, blue High Sierra jacket and white cotton garden gloves in a wooded area off Walford Road. A diaper pin was in the left breast area of the jacket. The style of jacket worn by the killer was sold exclusively by Mervyns department store in the U.S. in 1994 or 1995.

Investigators were also able to collect a fingerprint they believe was left by the murderer, as well as a shoe print from a black and white Brooks running shoe.

it is believed the most reliable piece of evidence is the jacket discarded by the perpetrator while in the process of fleeing the scene. Physical DNA evidence links this jacket to the crime scene.

“There have been advancements in DNA technology since 1998 and as such, the evidence has been re-examined by the Centre of Forensic Sciences. Police investigators are encouraging anyone who believes they recognize the jacket and who may have owned, lent or borrowed it to contact police.”

Just a wild thought, concerning the large diaper pin in the suspect's pocket- besides all the usual uses a pin might have, if someone lost a kilt pin, maybe they would temporarily use a baby pin?
Did Rennee ever play in a marching band or something where a kilt is the uniform?
imo. speculation.

On Tuesday January 27 1998, at 11am, a 23 year old female clerk working at an Adults Only Video in Sudbury, Ontario, was stabbed to death. The victim was Renée Sweeney, a fourth-year Laurentian University student. Cash and other items were missing from the store.

The suspect abandoned a lightweight jacket and white cotton gloves a short distance from the scene. These items were located by police dog track. The lightweight jacket is of particular interest. It is a High Sierra brand, made in Korea, and is a size large.

As a result of further investigation, suitable DNA evidence was located at and near the scene of the crime. The police are now using this DNA as an investigative tool and to date have eliminated over 1200 suspects primarily through DNA analysis.

Wondering, but assuming that the diaper pin was tested , perhaps for drugs, but considering the suspect was in an "Adult store " maybe the pin was a part of some fetish, perhaps one that the victim laughed at, or if it involved kids, perhaps threatened to report?
January in Ontario and most other Canadian locales, would be very cold- one would be unlikely to wear white clothing and a light jacket, imo. The jacket was apparently only sold in California, could the perp be a visitor from there?
imo, speculation.

“All it takes is that one tip,” he said. “One tip could lead us directly to the killer. The person may think it’s an insignificant tip, but for us, it may be the tip that leads us to (the murderer).”

However, he also said people need to realize so much time has passed the suspect may no longer look like he did then.

The suspect may have longer hair, may have no hair, or may have grown facial hair. He may have gained weight. The suspect may now wear contacts or have had surgery, or may only wear the glasses for reading.

The suspect abandoned a lightweight jacket and white cotton clothes, which was located by a police dog.

The jacket was from the brand High Sierra, made in Korea, and is a size large. Inside the left breast area of the jacket was a large diaper pin.

Police say they believe this updated sketch will lead to new information and help them solve the nearly 20-year-old case.

Police urge this isn't a photo ID of their suspect, but a sketch to spark someone's memory from 1998. The man is around 25 years old in the image, but would be around 20 years older now.

Renee Sweeney was killed while working as a clerk at the Adults Only Video store on Paris St. in 1998. Her murder remains unsolved, despite police having DNA samples, and other evidence taken from the crime scene. (Supplied)

If you have any information, you can call the Greater Sudbury Police Service at 705-675-9171 x 2320 or Rainbow Crime Stoppers at 705-222-8477(TIPS).